Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-01-08


| committing himself, not simply to paper, but to
| imper1shable brick and stone. Why you can him
picture for q few hundred dollars and invites his
friends TO come and see it, unless the picture Is the
| work OF master. What should you think OF him
VINO puts, not the picture, but the thing ITSELF not
In private room, but in the most public place he
can AFFORD to buy, and asserts his right to let It
stand there forever and ever, challenging with its
brazen front the criticism and deliberate study or
| all who approach it-philosophers, artists, seers
and sages Is it not a serious thing to build a
| horse? And does il diminish your own folly that
| Other men are no wiser or more considerable?
| NOW TO your questions. can suggest no other
relief for the narrow lots than the great panacea
| for all commercial ills. competitions; competition
| among the sellers and common sense among the
| BUYERS. Whatever prevents a rapid rise In the
price OF land will tend to prevent fatal diInnu-
ton In the size OF the lots Evidently, the greater
the number OF desirable lots that are ready for the
retail trade, that is ready to be sold s1ngly for
actuai use and not for speculation, the lower will
| De the prices. To casual Observer their number
already seems enormously above any possible de-
| mand. The signs or the real estate dealers con-
'front.' us at every turn until near-S1ghted person
dering among hundreds OF small private burying-
grounds, but as matter OF fact this land Is not
larry In the market. 1t is not enough that it Is
LAID on into rectangles and other polygons, figured
as to its dimensions labelled and decorated with
the names OF the agents who are trying to sell it.
1t is not fairly ready buyers until it Is in mer-
chanta0ie condition In every respect affecting its
value Tor Immediate use. The walks, the streets,
the trees the turf the approaches the visible and
the safe and satisfactory occupation OF land for
dwellings must all be In perfect condition.
$50 1t happens that OF the multitude Of city lots
that bear tie familiar inscription, large proper
| ton are burdened with an tncumbrance OF some
sort: an unpaved street, an unclean gutter a raw
excavation or some other ante-Shepherd OfenSe
That keeps them out Of the ranks OF close cOmpeti
ton. II may be that no other description OF the
| fault can be given than the indefinite, but none
the less fatal condemnation undesirable neigh
DorhoOd, But these very faults which can and
must be removed are In many cases the sole cause
OF the undesirableness. Correct these, and some
thing practical will be accomplished in the way OF
maintaining the liberal scale OF private building
lots that was contemplated In the original plan OF
the city.
zone OF the building regulations that Gen.
washington himself dictated, that there should
be no buildings in any part OF the city having
walls more than forty feet high and none should
De built on any OF the avenues l,SS than thirty
nve feet to the roof, had it not been modified,
would have gone far toward more uniform and
reasonable phi eS In all parts OF the city, II would
nave compelled builders TO make fair use OF the
land occupied, at least on the avenues instead Of
virtually destroying it by means OF worthless
novels or The dog-in-the-manger character, and
the restriction OF height would have compelled
reasonable breadth In order to cover under one
ROOF the Necessary room 1Or a family Of moderate
Size ana ample equipment.
while the''spirit OF mortal is proud there will
be an arstocratic quarter. to which access is pos
Side only by means OF golden key or burglars
jimmy. The price of land In such sections is of
comparatively uttIe consequence; Ii is highly i'm
portant that the great bulk Of the population OF
city, those who have neither poverty nor riches,
SHOULD De able to own comfortable homes without
paving more Tor the Land on which they stand than
would support them in idleness In any part OF the
World where Land costs more than It's value 1or
~Srl ;uiturai purposes. By comfortable homes, l
littn actual comfort, not Relatives; one may say,
Iof instance, that parOi, library sitting room,
eleven iets wide Is conIortabie,-'for city, but
IL Is not comfortable inywhere, and never can be
iltue So Ior the simple reason that the average
human body ana The furniture required Tor its
accommodation are too large for such narrow
Quarters. III Jour feet Instead or six were the
1uli stature OF man the would be different
Making all the land within the boundary available
may De reckOned as one OF the means by which the
tendency TO contract the separate lots may be- In
some degree, cOunteracted. Still more Important
Is ii that the habitab.e tracts outside the city
limits should be brought into close communion
vii the inside ring. smooth roads, swift transit
and ali the amenities that belong to the heart OF
the city, will bring so many Thousand OF land
within easy reach, that wise men Will not find it
expedlenJ TO build their houses sixty feet high.
SlXty feet long and sixteen feet WIDE But ii |
Were to express myself fully and freely On the
subject OF suburban homes, you would suspect me
OF selfish interest in SOME Syndicate and scOrn
my weighttest arguments. Nevertheless propose
10 DO So by and by but for the present will leave
you TO investigate tine subject by the slow and
painful methods OF all original explorers.
1.-THE very best possible plan for narrow city
house in block Is like the next war, mot tit YET
Undoubtedly the house builders in large cities
OF modern times began wrong, and have failed to
find the better Way. Here, as in so many other
things, we follow silly fashions and unworthy
precedents with as much devotion as If they were
fundamental principles. SO 1t does not yet appear
what the coming house Will be; but few points
may be anticipated.
''The principal approach to the interior will not
be by means OF long flight or stairs built at great
expense of cut stone, covering the few precious
feet that might be given to turf or flowers and
spoliing the best part or the ground floor The
most important room in the house, the drawing
rOOm pariOr, or whatever name may be given RI
II, Will have the benefit OF the full width OF the
house. The stairs will not be long, Straight and
narrow, nor yet narrow, crooked aud dark: they
viii. be broad and easy; built in short flights with
large, square landings. The rooms will be of grace
ful proportions, not OF such exaggerated height as
TO appear Ike vaults or corridors rather than hab-
table apartments II is mistake 10 suppose that
the higher the rooms the cooler they Will r In sum-
and the better the ventilation: IL there is any
difference In THESE respectsit i, In the lower
ceilings. The coming block house will be COM
pete Ia ITSELF thai is TO say, the party walls that
are reasoned such large saving in the cost OF con-
struction, but which are In fact regards dwell
ins an invention OF the evil one will be so syery
double that the sounds OF the piano-thumuing.
the rush or the plumbing waters, The wailing OF
babes and the SternuJatioIS OF aSthnIt1c slee1erS
will never be heard on the wrong side OF it.
Neither Will the falling Jo15tS, when house at one
side burns leave hole, through this wall or throw
ii down completely. When No. 10 burns and ~
Will he IS safe as TX the fire was mile away But
then the model house in the city block VIII not
have wooden jOiots at all. This Is more truly the
lron age than any that has preceded it, and II the
Increasing cost OF wood and the cheapening OK iron
continues, 1t Will be but short time before iron
will be absolutely cheaper for the essential frame
work or houses than Wood. Even now 1t can b,
employed to excellent advantage In so simple a
matter as the roor girders Tor narrow houses.
''Of course many points might be mentioned that
are common TO all well-built houses, such as
warming, ventilation, dryness, &C., but I will
make only one more suggestion in this letter. No
man iiTeth TO himself, neither can q block house
DC built house ought to be built except by CO..
operation. 1t would almost double the value O:
great numbers Of such dwellings IL the rooms aft
The end opposite the street We're as pleasant n,
those that look upon the public thOrOuphfare
They could easily be made lar more so in many
cases, II, by common consent, the ground occupied
by uncouth and unclean back yard accOrlpapi-
mentS and the back ends OF the houses them.
serves were made beautiful and clean. It is a
groundless and discreditable notion that such
coarse adjuncts and rough finishing are necessary
/ Tor convenience or economy. There Is no more
/ good reason why house should have an I'M.
cOnely side that will not bear Inspection than for
a dark side To a mans character which would dis
grace him IL IL were seen; no reason in brief WHY
tine space behind, that is between the houses en-
closing city square, should not be made as beau
tliul as the courtyard VI palaces, or the garden
| front OF suburban villas.
"Where shall you hang the clothes? In the
attic If they must be dried on the premises 1t is
| doubtless a mistake Tor any private family in
town or city TO do its own Washing quite as
much so as 10 make Its shirts or knit It's own
| Stockings. But the cost OF building a skeleton
attic, not an attic for skeletons, but AN oueu un-
finished apartment covering the whole or q suffi-
Client portion or the house, would be triilinp conf
pared With the value or the land the clOt hes-yard
would occupy on the ground behind or beside the
Coil nN